The two-day VCON gathering, dubbed “Relaxicon” and hosted by West Coast Science Fiction Association, takes place on the weekend of Oct. 28 and 29.

The convention has “promoted the interests of science fiction and fantasy culture” in Vancouver and its environs since 1971, according to a post at vcon.ca. Featured will be literature, art, media, music, costumes, comics, tabletop and electronic games, and more.

“The Relaxicon will have most of the usual activities and features you’d expect from a VCON,” notes the website, “just a little less, given the reduced time and smaller venue footprint and the desire for everything to be even more relaxed and casual than usual.”

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New this year is a Halloween Spook-A-Thon fundraiser held on the Friday evening before the convention (Oct. 27). The by-donation event is organized by Gregory Neher, who runs a monthly “Fandom Feud” gameshow-style gathering at New Westminster’s Heritage Grill, in which two teams compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to survey questions.

Contestants are asked questions such as, “Name a popular murder weapon for a horror movie killer,” and “Name a survival horror video game.”

Also planned for Friday is “Whose Nightmare Is It Anyways,” a “blood-curdling improv show where you compete against your ghoulish friends to see who can scare up the most laughs from the audience.”

“I’m also debuting a new game show called Technically Correct, kind of a competition of nerdy one-upmanship,” said the Surrey-raised Neher, who lives in Vancouver. “We’re putting it all together with door prizes, probably a costume contest, and it should be a lot of fun for anyone who wants to come enjoy a Halloween-themed event.”

Added Neher: “With this event, we’re focusing more on Halloween and spooky things, so there’ll be less video games and less science fiction and more ghosts and goblins.”